Bureau of Land Management and NACD Renew Their Partnership

The Bureau of Land Management (BLM) and the National Association of Conservation Districts (NACD) renewed their longstanding partnership with today’s signing of a cooperative agreement that supports both organizations’ work in natural resource management.

The Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) is intended to form a framework for cooperation that supports the organizations’ common goals and interests in managing, developing, and protecting federal and private land and water resources in an environmentally and economically sound manner.

BLM Acting Deputy Director Jamie Connell said, “The BLM values this relationship. The cooperative spirit and goodwill of the more than 3,000 districts across the nation have allowed us to make great strides. By renewing this MOU, we acknowledge there is still much left to do, and we recognize we can accomplish so much more together than we could individually.”

"We are very pleased to be renewing our MOU with the Bureau of Land Management," said Earl Garber, president of NACD. "Over the previous years, our close working partnership with BLM has helped open many doors to address important natural resources management issues. The MOU will allow the diverse conservation work underway to continue forward."

Through their partnership, the BLM and NACD have worked collaboratively to address a range of public lands issues, including forestry and range management, invasive species awareness, wildland fire, and wild horses and burros. The MOU and the ongoing working relationship allows both organizations to identify those issues that pose management challenges and to develop creative solutions jointly that benefit local communities and represent the best interest of the American public.

The BLM manages more than 245 million acres of public land, the most of any Federal agency. This land, known as the National System of Public Lands, is primarily located in 12 Western states, including Alaska. The BLM also administers 700 million acres of sub-surface mineral estate throughout the nation. The BLM's mission is to manage and conserve the public lands for the use and enjoyment of present and future generations under our mandate of multiple-use and sustained yield. In Fiscal Year 2013, the BLM generated $4.7 billion in receipts from public lands.